While the body was still in the paint shop, and the frame was back from powder coating, I was able to start re-assembling the rolling chassis. I started out by installing the Heidt's front suspension and steering rack and set it up for preliminary wheel alignment. The lower A-arms were positioned parallel to the floor and preliminary caster and camber were set using a gauge bolted to the spindle. Reference centerlines were drawn on paper taped to the floor. The rear end was then installed, guided by centerlines on the floor for correct wheelbase. Measurements were taken to ensure that rear axle centerline was parallel to front spindles and perpendicular to chassis centerline. Exhaust pipes were placed back into frame before rear was bolted up.

After the exterior color was finished, the body was masked off, and the underside was sprayed with Gravitex stone and chip guard. I originally thought of using a bed-liner type product, but this seems to be a better choice. Last three photos show some of the other body parts painted and buffed.

These six photos are some shots of the Willys body just as it was clear coated, and under the fluorescent lights the color looks more like root beer than burgundy. But once out in the sun the real color comes out. The clear was then sanded and buffed in a multi-stage process. By the way, the color is deep burgundy pearl, not red. I don't like red cars....

Painting day had arrived. First photo is a look at some of the supplies, including the sealer, which was applied immediately before the color coat. Other supplies included catalyst, reducer, and the clear coat.
My original choice for the Willys was a House of Kolor burgundy candy over a base coat of dark gray metallic. The color was very dark, without any hint of purple, and almost looked black in the shade, but really popped when the sun came out. However, practicality got the better of that idea and after realizing that the paint job would be unrepairable, I resigned myself to a basic black paint job. My buddy Tim, who was doing the bodywork and paint, came up with the idea of trying to get the 3 stage candy duplicated into a two stage base/clear. The local PPG supplier was able to do just that. The resulting color was an almost perfect match for the HOK 3 stage. So, I was able to get my deep burgundy color after all....the second picture says it all....much better than black.
The third and fourth photos show the sealer applied to the body, followed by three coats of color. It was getting late in the day, so the clear was applied the next day.

After the primer/filler was applied, everything was sanded/filled/primed as needed to get the body ready for the primer coat. The first two photos show the as-sprayed primer/filler and the third photo shows the after-sanding result. Some of the mold seams needed more work to get them smoothed out. The fourth and fifth photos show the body, fenders and trunk lid primed. Also seen are the flush mount tail and third brake light lenses. They had to be masked off for each stage of primer/filler/sealer and paint. The last photo shows the body primed, sanded and masked off, ready for sealer, and then paint.